PointsBet refunds pre-tournament bets after Patrick Reed’s controversial Famers Insurance Open win
After Patrick Reed took controversial relief from an embedded ball on Torrey Pines South’s 10th hole on Saturday of the Farmers Insurance Open, tournament headlines focused on little else. On-site rules officials declared Reed’s action to have been within the rules, and he went on to win by five shots on Sunday.
Still, PointsBet, an online sportsbook that partners with the PGA Tour, is offering a refund. After Reed sealed the deal at Torrey Pines, PointsBet posted on its Twitter account that it would refund pre-tournament bets on all players other than Reed at the Farmers Insurance Open.
⚠️KARMA KOMMITTEE ALERT⚠️
There was no shortage of Patrick Reed talk on his way to winning the Farmers Insurance Open…
If you bet on a different golfer, we have your back! PointsBet is refunding ALL pre-tournament outright winner wagers on all other golfers in Free Bets! pic.twitter.com/SHH8OfslgV
— PointsBet Sportsbook (@PointsBetUSA) January 31, 2021
The sportsbook called the decision a result of a meeting of its “Karma Kommittee.” The refund is not in cash, but rather in credits that can be used to place future bets.
The PGA Tour and PointsBet announced a multi-year partnership in August 2020 that designated PointsBet as the official betting operator of the Tour.
Reed took a free drop on the 10th for an embedded ball after his approach wound up well left of the green and in heavy rough. While replays of the shot showed the ball had bounced, Reed was told when he asked marshals that they didn’t see the ball bounce. Nor did his two playing partners or any of the three caddies in the group. Thus, Reed alerted the other two men in the group that he was going to check if the ball was embedded.
He picked up the ball, put his finger into a hole in the ground, and decided the ball was imbedded. Then he called for a rules official to make sure the ball had been embedded and the official, Brad Fabel, declared it was. Reed was allowed take a free drop and made par and eventually grabbed a share of the 54-hole lead.
“At the end of the day, after I called the rules official and everything on the 10th and then once they confirmed up in scoring after the round that I went through the right protocols to do what I was supposed to, at that point everything was put to bed,” Reed said. “It was what we were supposed to do and they said we did it correctly.”
Steve DiMeglio contributed reporting.
